Eddy Louiss (2 May 1941 – 30 June 2015) was a French jazz musician.
Eddy was born in Paris, France as Édouard Louise. His father Pierre Louise (1908-1986) was a French public servant and musician (guitar and trumpet) who composed ‘Tou Piti' beguine. It was his father who had changed the last letter of his last name which was originally Louise to Louiss.
Eddy received piano lessons from the age of five. Very young, he sings and plays in his father's orchestra every summer. His curiosity for jazz led him to try out different instruments: the trumpet, the vibraphone and the organ. It was as a pianist that he first became known in Parisian clubs, and as a singer in the vocal group of Les Double Sixfrom 1961 through 1963, with which he recorded in particular in the company of Dizzy Gillespie and arrangements by Quincy Jones. During this time his primary instrument became the Hammond organ. In 1964, he was awarded the Prix Django Reinhardt.
Freed from his military obligations, he pursued a double career, one foot in variety (where he was Claude Nougaro's official musician for 13 years between 1964 and 1977) , the other in jazz. In 1966, on the organ, he formed the HLP trio withDaniel Humair (drums) and Jean-Luc Ponty (violin). He also worked with Kenny Clarke and Jean-Luc Ponty.
Accompanying Johnny Griffin for nine months at Jazzland in Paris, he reached one of the peaks of his career when Stan Getz hired him and his group (René Thomas on guitar, Bernard Lubat on drums) after hearing them at the 'Apollo in June 1970, blown away by the qualities of Eddy Louiss on an instrument for which he had until then a deep aversion. In 1971 he played with Stan Getz in a concert at Ronnie Scott's in London, which resulted in the album “Dynasty.” He also composed Dum Dum which he played with Stan Getz. Despite an obvious empathy, the adventure was cut short, however, despite the statements of Getz who said he was ready to resume his American career with the group.
On his return to France, Louiss is at the center of the Porgy and Bess arranged by Ivan Jullien, in whose orchestra he had played extensively a few years earlier. He recorded two quartet albums as well as a disc with Stéphane Grappelli in 1972, but most of his time was devoted to variety. Eddy Louiss had his left leg amputated in the early 1990s after suffering artery problems, following which he made few public appearances. But by 1994 he recorded with pianist Michel Petrucciani. In 2001, his duet with Richard Galliano brought him back to the forefront. His later recordings, such as Sentimental Feeling and Récit proche, combined jazz with rock and world music.
He died from cancer in Poitiers University Hospital on June 30, 2015 in Poitou-Charentes, France at the age of 74 years. (Edited from Wikipedia, Philharmonie de Paris & IMDb)